Automobile lock



Patented my 27, 1926. i

i a my can s; r new; m-ban. a .v e

AUTOMOBI LE LQC QQ I j The present invention relates to improve ,m'ents in locks and; particularly to" locks" adapted for use in connection with the steering apparatus ofmotorvehlcles.

The general object of the invention isto' provide for locking 'the'ste'ering "Wheel of a motorivehicle by the eleinents of apermi i t'ationlockcand thereby avoid the necessity of having to depend, uponafpr'oper key for operating unlock ng' the veh cle.

. :The above and other objects are accom plishedby instrumentalities pointed out in the following specification. The 'nvention is clearl ings formingsp'art of the specification and :in whiizh Figure'LQ is an enlarged detail partly in fi'centralvertical "section an'dside elevation oft'h'e'lock' and itssupport, portions'of the latter bingbroken e yg c se the relation ofoth i r t chamber chamber and a portion of the b horizontallywith respect to" Figure 2; and

Figure Ais' a' vertical cross section of 'af- -modified form of thedevi'cef 1 i In the drawing aindicates a fragment of a stationary partof a'mot or vehicle as, for instance, thefinstrument board located in frontof the drivers seat The steering post "shown "'by dotted lines 5 and indicated by 5 extendslupwardly and obliquely through the instrument board and is operated to turn by the usual steering wheel 6 rigidly secured thereto-Q In carrying out'the present invention,'-I provide a tubular-"casing? which receives thepost 5 and acts as a' housing therefor. The .ca sing 7 is stationary and its lower *end is bolted or otherwise secured 'asj] pp e e 1.9 when the'but'ton is'moved' upwardly and 'retracted.i'11t0 the cas'tirig':w'hen the button indicated by 8' to the instrument board "a.

The uppenend of the casing Tterm-inates below thehub' ofwheel 6 so that a clearance I 'f lewer end of the bolt lchiamber is, in open communication with a transverse1y dis posed lock chamber 20 which is permanently closed at one end byanf end wall 21 and.

is provided for the metallic disk shaped keeper '9 whi'ch3has a central opening forthe reception of post' band is supported for rotation by the u perend of sleeved. The upper face of dis 9 has a'number of radialgrooves or depressions 10 which r0 Vide'SeatS for the arms or spokes 1 of On the side e gthe'di iverg as shown-in Figure 1,""a castmg j the lock inthe acts of lockinga'nd,

\ defined in the Figure 1 'i's a side elevation of the devic a a v T outfirst Figure 3 isa view taken througi' h the lock of the lock 'casi'ngwith the device arranged rApi lication' nled iu eo', 1925;. seiiai ivmii sia.

as a unit.

of the casing: 7 I adjacent to "Zvf is ri'gidly' secured toflthecasing as by "screws .lS2v+1'2.{Itwill be note'dby re'ferv -ence to-Figure 2 that the lower of the screws 7 p f 12Pis disposediii 'alinement with an opening 13 forined inf the opposite portion of casing the screws 12' 1n the operation of securing the casting 7) to the casing or in detaching he a the casting'ftherefrom, and when thecasing Wh'eQl 6fw-hich hel'cltightly nested therein by the supporting: actionj'of sleeve 7; This construction op'eratesto secure thefdlsk i "andl'wheeltogether 'sojthat they willturn i 1.7; 3 A similar opening, (not shown) is dis posed opposite "the uppe'r of"the screws 12.

These openings permit afscrew driven-or lsuitableimplement' to be passedtransverse1y' through casing 'i "andfi nto engagement with is removed 'fromjthe post 5. ZThe peculiar? location of screws l212"renders,thesejinlvisible andinaccessiblefwhen the casin 1 1 arranged i'ni operative position as shown in Figured,"and-thus "detachment of the ca'sting-b from the casing 7 is prevented witht-i'on around thepost' 5i j The upper end of casting b' is disposed, appro'ziimately in contact .lw'iththe lower face of disk 9 s oas to prevent the-"introducton 1 0f an implement having 'suflicient' formi ability to displacethe parts; and the inner surface of the casing iscurved to conform, with the curvature 'of'the' casing 7. The up- ,zper portion of the casting bis bor'edin the removing the casing? from-its posidirection ofit s' length so as to provide an' open-ended bolt chamber-for the reception of the bolt" 14 which is movable endwise'in' the chamber by a imanuallyoperable button 15, the shank -16fof whichis'suitably 'connected'to the boltl i asby screiv threads '17 and; which extends throu'ghlz'averti'cal, slot the front face oftjhe casting, 3 the length of the"slot"18 beingsuch"that the upperend of the bolt lmayy'be projected intoa recess. 1

is moved'd'ownwardl'y 1111* the slot 18. 1 The closed at its opposite end by a removable cover 22 which isdetachably secured to they no i and arranged in spacedvrelation one to the other and to the tumble-r disk 25. -The peripheral portions of the disks 25 and 26 extend across the lower end of the chamber for bolt 14 and the inner or lower ,end of the bolt 14 is provided with anoblong head 27 wholly disposed within the lock chamber I 20. The disks '25 and 26 are provided with detents 28 which when turned into alinev ment with one another and arranged to extend upwardly and in ali-nement with the bolt chamber, provide a passage for the reception of the end portion 27 of the bolt 14. TWhen the bolt 14 is projected into the recess 1 9 the lower end 27 is elevated from t-he -deten-t 2 8 and arranged so as to bear upon the peripheries of the disks 25 and 26 when these are turned so as to move their deten-ts out of alinement with one another, and with the lower end 27. In turning the shaft 24 "the movement of disk 25 is transmitted to the adjacent disk 26 when a pin 29 on disk 25 abuts a pin 30 on the adjacent face of disk 26 and in like manner pins 31 on the opposed faces .of the other disks transmit thereto the rotary movement of the shaft 24. The various pins are arranged in predetermined relation to the detents and may as is usual in permutation locks be adrjusted into various different positions with respect to the *detents and to the graduations of a circular scale formed onthe outer face oila knob 32 which is rotatable in a depression in the outer face of the cover 22 and rigidly secured to the shaft 24 so as to rotate'the same. When the several pins are arranged to conform to a predetermined combination of numbers and turns, then alinement of the detents in the position shown in Figure 2 will not be had until the several disks have been-successively manipulated in accordance with the requirements of the combination so that when the bolt 14 is projected into the recess 19 of the disk 9 and the detents moved out of a'linement,

the wheel 10 is locked against turning movement and can only be liberated by retracting bolt v14 which is permitted only by a proper manipulation of the knob. A leaf spring is adapted to bear on the periphery of .the tumbler disk farthest .removed from cover 22 and thus prevent accidental turning movement or overthrow of this disk which is the first to beset in unlocking position by the turning of knob 32.

In Figure 4 I have shown a modified form of permutation lock as comprising a series of concentrically disposed cylinders 34 arranged one within the other and function- :ing as tumblers. The outer of these cylinders is rigidly connected to shank 35 of the operating knob 2-36 and is vinteriorly provided with a circular wall 37 having concentric grooves for the reception of one end of the inner cylinders. The outer ends of all the cylinders are slida'bly fitted in concentric grooves in the permanent end wall 38 and withdrawal of the cylinders and the knob is prevented by the detachable cover 39 secured to the wall of the lock chamber in any ,preferred manner as, for instance, that described in connection with cover 22 in Figures 2 and 3. The bollt- 40 is sl-idable in an open-ended boltichamber communicating at one end with the .recess'19 ofldisk 9 and at its opposite end with the lock chamber 41 in which the cylinders are disposed. The opposed faces of the cylinders are provided with pins .42 which transmit the movement of the knob 35 to the various cylinders. The cylinders have transverse openings which aline one with the other when a predeterinined number of turns for predetermined distances are given the said cylinders and when so alinedthe openings receivethe inner end portion of ,bolt 40.- An operating button similar to the button 15 previously described is employed for projecting thebolt 40 into the recess 19 of disk 9. i I

Although I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it .is to be understood thatv the same is susceptible of various changes; and. I reserve the right to employ such as may come within the scope of the appended claim. V

I claim:

In combination, ,a ,revo'lvably mounted steering post terminating atone end in an operating element, a stationary hollowcasing surrounding the steering post, a casting, screws threaded into the casting from the inside of the casing allowing the steering post to prevent .unthreading cf the sameya bolt mounted .in the casting with freedom of axial motion and adapted to interlock with the operating elementand a plurality of elements disposed relative to the bolt so as tov allow the latter to be retracted only when arranged in a predetermined order.

JOHN CLIFFORD. 

